WESTLOCK – Westlock County is tracking to be 25 per cent over budget on its fuel expenses for 2022, with the CAO saying wild fluctuations at the pump “no one could have predicted” are to blame for the shortfall.
Highlighted as part of variance report accepted 7-0 by councillors at their Nov. 22 governance and priorities meeting, administration noted that as of Oct. 31, the overall fuel expense is 4.5 per cent over budget and they expect to finish in the red by “approximately 25 per cent.” In a Nov. 23 follow-up interview, CAO Tony Kulbisky, who wasn’t a part of last year’s budget deliberations as he started with the county in September, admitted that “budgets are always a working document” and noted that while the fuel budget will be over, it will be absorbed in the overall budget as other expense areas are tracking under.
He also confirmed that the volume of fuel that county is using hasn’t changed year-over-year and the shortfall isn’t the result of “guys driving around extra time all over the place.” To Oct. 31, the municipality has spent $763,607 in “transportation general” on a budget of $1,042,378.
“Overall, in that area, in public works, the good news is it looks like we’re forecasting to be under budget overall so that offsets that,” said Kulbisky. “Usually, what I’ve seen in the past that’s worked well is to use a three-year average and sometimes you’re right and sometimes you aren’t. The key here is to continue to monitor it so there’s no surprises and that’s why we’re talking about it now and not in February.”
Coun. Stuart Fox-Robinson had asked administration for what price estimates they used for gasoline and diesel, “as I do question why we’re over budget on fuel when we knew what was going to happen this year” — Kulbisky provided that information via e-mail to councillors Nov. 25 detailing the method and prices they used.
The report also notes that outstanding taxes receivable stand at $2,116,893 compared to $1,686,852 in 2021, while utility receivables are $85,848 compared to $87,886 last year — Fox-Robinson asked if beyond the “general economy” there was a reason why outstanding taxes were $500,000 higher. Overall, to Oct. 31, 78.9 per cent of the county’s expenses and 98 per cent of revenue have been realized compared to the same time period in 2021 when 75 per cent of expenses and 95.6 per cent of revenue was recorded.
“Nothing unusual, that number does fluctuate at different times of the year,” explained finance director Peggy Hardinge.
